Alright...I updated yesterday...then realized...I HAD TEN REVIEWS! well...technically more...but I promised a kiss, so here I deliver. :D DRAMA ALERT!

Clary smiled and leaned against the familiar embrace of her old friend, feeling his warm breath travel down the back of her dress, raising goose bumps on her arms. The music thumped an uneven beat as the lighting pulsed around the room, casting fun and colorful shadows over the walls and floor, illuminating the room in a spectacular dancing glow. "Little Red," he said, placing his chin atop her red hair, tugging lightly at the tip of the braid. "You've grown since the last time I saw you." Clary laughed lightly, shoving out of the tan circle of his arms and hopping up onto one of the vacant barstools, watching to her dismay as her toes dangled helplessly off the edge, nowhere near brushing the floor. She placed her empty cup up on the counter, wanting another drink since she'd spilled the last one all over the floor.

"Two inches," she confirmed, gesturing to the bartender that she wanted another drink. Another bonus to the private club was that they didn't card, allowing eighteen-year-old Clary to get as tipsy as she desired. The pink drinks were making her as giddy as a school-girl, but she wasn't complaining about the feeling. Her mind was soaring. She felt alive and vibrant, as if she were glowing, radiating light everywhere like the iridescent disco ball spinning over the center of the mob of throbbing bodies. She leaned her elbows back against the smooth, dark countertop, stretching her back, sore from dancing. Sebastian was eyeing her curiously, as if he couldn't believe it was really her sitting at the bar of a club.

"Are you sure you are Clary Fairchild? Because seriously, I didn't think I'd see her clubbing." Clary kicked him gently with the heel of her shoe, waving him off and clasping the foamy drink pressed into her palm. She swirled the contents with the small straw, watching the pink cyclone in the center.

"Are you sure you are Sebastian Verlac? Because seriously, I didn't think I'd see him breaking the rules." Sebastian grinned, pressing the opened bottle of beer to his lips and gulping the liquid in big swigs, slamming it against the countertop next to Clary's elbow when he was finished, beckoning to the man in the tux passing out drinks.

"Another round, my good man." The man nodded in Seb's direction and disappeared into the bouncing crowd, only his tray of drinks visible, like a surfboard riding the waves of swaying hands. Sebastian's dark brown eyes drank her in, from her golden high heels to her sparkly pins inset in her braided hair. "You look good, Fray," he said, using one of his other old nicknames for her. He'd given it to her after attending her first volleyball game, realizing how competitive she was and how she'd never let anyone beat her on the court, ever. "You're the definition of a hopeless fray, a fight that nobody else can win," he'd said after he'd given her a congratulatory hug for winning the state championship. Hopeless Fray soon became too much of a mouthful for him, so he shortened it to Fray.

She encircled her straw with her lips, taking a lazy sip of her drink and letting her eyes roll over his body. She studied his muscular, tan arms, his fitted gray v-neck that showed of every curve of his toned abdomen. She ogled his dark-washed jeans, tight in all the right places. A slow smile spread across her lips as she released her straw with a pop. "Not so bad yourself, Verlac." He snorted quietly at the comment, plopping down on the empty seat next to her and accepting the glass bottle extended to him from the man in the tuxedo.

"Thanks, dude," he said, unrolling a couple of bills and pressing them into the man's hand. "So, Little Red, what's new?" Clary shrugged, dropping her gaze to her drink. This was Seb, her confident, her friend, her adopted brother. Jocelyn and Luke had adopted Sebastian when he and Clary were both about eleven, and they had the strongest bond siblings could have. She could tell him anything. Yet she found herself avoiding the fact that she and Simon had broken up. Maybe she didn't want him to see that she was lonely, or maybe she didn't want him to feel pity for her because he probably had a million girls vying for him, and she was still just his sister Clary.

"Nothing," her lips formed the word, sending it out in a quiet whisper. Clary cleared her throat. "Nothing," she repeated more firmly. "I'm all moved in and ready. Can't wait for school to start tomorrow, bright and early." She took another sip of her drink, only to have Sebastian pull it from her grasp. She made a whimper of protest, reaching for her delicious delicacy.

"Ah, ah, ah…You don't drink, Little Red, and I don't want you starting you're first day of college with a raging hangover." Clary scowled, crossing her arms over her chest, but knowing that Sebastian was right, like always.

"Whatever. What's new in the land of Sebastian Verlac?" she asked, flipping wisps of curls that had fallen from her braid and into her eyes. Usually there was nothing new. Sebastian had been the cookie-cutter high school jock, starting quarterback of the varsity football team, teen heartthrob, and sensitive brother, ready to beat up anyone who so much as looked at Clary wrong. Now, Seb's eyes were downcast in embarrassment, his mouth twitching as if he didn't know what to say. Clary rested a small hand on his shoulder. "Seb, whatever it is, you can tell me." Sebastian looked up, innocence and fear evident in his eyes. Clary immediately knew that this wasn't going to be good.

He let out a shaky breath, the longer strands of brown hair blowing in the gust. "I'm engaged," he articulated slowly, looking up and gauging her reaction. Clary schooled her facial features so that they wouldn't show the shock that had sparked inside of her.

"Congratulations," she choked out, puzzled that one of her big brother hadn't told her such a thing right when it happened. Sebastian shook his head, the look on his face showing one thing. Regret.

"No, it's not good." He rolled his eyes toward the ceiling and then dropped his face into his hands. "Not good at all." There was silence between them for a moment until Sebastian downed the remaining beer in his bottle. "I got the girl pregnant." The words were so matter-of-fact that Clary's hand fluttered to her chest. Sebastian, Christian, pro-abstinence, Sebastian, got a girl pregnant. He thrust a hand into his brown locks in aggravation.

"Sebastian, are you, are you sure?" His eyes met Clary's, and he shook his head, suddenly preoccupied with his intertwined fingers. "Why did you ask her to marry you, then?" Clary was once against confused, knowing Seb wasn't the type to rush into things.

"She," Sebastian started, covering his eyes with his hand and pinching the bridge of his nose. "She threatened to tell the colleges that had recruited me. She threatened to tell them that I raped her, that I forced her into…into…" He trailed off, balancing his elbows on his knees and resting his forehead against his palms.

"Hey," Clary said, softening her voice for her brother's benefit, knowing he didn't want a lie, "You'll figure this out. Just have them do a paternity test when the baby comes out—"

"And what if it is mine?" he shouted. Clary shrank back from the power of his voice. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be unloading this on you. After all, I haven't seen you in three months." He didn't mention that they had barely talked in nearly five, since the night of the prom when Aline had attacked her, when the oriental girl had claimed Sebastian as her own, forcing Clary to sever the tight-knit relationship they'd once kept. A hand appeared on Seb's shoulder, and Clary's gaze traveled up the arm, seeing a girl tucking herself into Sebastian's side.

"Clary," Sebastian said, plastering a fake smile to his face. "Here's the future Mrs. Sebastian Verlac." The girl giggled, and Clary felt like she was going to vomit. She felt like the world was pulling the worst prank ever. She waited silently for Alec to pop out and shout Surprise, giggling with Isabelle. Of course, that didn't happen. Clary blinked at the girl, taking in the dark, straight hair that just brushed the tops of her shoulders, the straight, even nose that separated two, almond-shaped eyes set deeply into the girls caramel skin.

"Aline," Clary whispered, taking in the girl's tight pink dress that conformed to the protruding bump between her hips. "Excuse me," Clary said, holding a hand to her stomach as she rushed away from the brother that she loved so much, from his fiancée that she wished were dead. She pushed through to the girl's bathroom and fell to her knees in the first stall, gagging up the contents of her drink. She didn't know if it was the alcohol finally taking effect in her system or the bomb that just had exploded on her life.

"Clary," a small voice came from the doorway. Clary clutched the white porcelain as her stomach churned again.

"Go away, Izzy."

"But—"

"GO!" Clary yelled with more fiery than she'd ever used to talk to her best friend. Izzy squeaked, but Clary heard the clicking of her heels as she retreated from the room, leaving Clary alone to pick up the pieces of her quickly crumbling life. She dragged herself up from the floor and went to the sink to rinse her mouth out with water. Her entire body shook with the realization that she and Aline would be spending a lot of time together, that they'd even be related. She shuddered, wondering how a sleazy snob could deserve her big brother's last name.

She stomped back out into the club, determined to hail a taxi home, fall into bed, and not get up until the morning. She found Izzy hanging around the edge of the bar, sitting on some guy's lap as she lifted a cup to her lips. She wanted to go apologize for being such a drama queen and flipping out on her.

She'd just put one golden high heel in front of the other when Izzy's head shifted, ever so slightly, lifting the black veil that covered the man's face, the one who her best friend was perched on. Clary blinked her eyes, making sure it wasn't just the cocktail that was making her hallucinate. Underneath Izzy was a dark-headed boy, a smirk plastered onto his face, which surprisingly wasn't obscured by his signature nerd glasses. Clary whipped around in the other direction, tears streaming down her face as she wove her way to the exit, trying to delete the image of Simon gazing at Izzy in pride. She grabbed two beers off a tray as the man in the tuxedo walked by. Pressing the rim to her lips, she downed both of them and tossed them into a trash can on her way out.

She was too far gone to notice that golden angel following her, his face morphed in a look of concern no girl had ever made him have before. She waved her hand in the air, raising two fingers to her lips and letting out a sharp whistle, a taxi pulling over before the sound had even finished. "Thanks, Testarossa," Jace said as he slid into the cab, all the way across to the other door. Clary rolled her eyes, just about to slam the door on the boy's face when he grabbed her wrist. "We're going to the same place," he said, pausing. "And I know you want to tell all your friends you got to ride with an awesome piece of man-candy like this." He gestured to himself. Clary rolled her eyes, unable to hide a smile that played on her salty lips. "There it is," he murmured, tugging her gently down onto the seat and gesturing to her mouth.

"Why are you being nice to me?" she asked, buckling her seatbelt. Jace snorted, pulling on his own buckle. "I was being serious."

"Well, despite the conventional man-whore you stereotyped me as, I actually am quite chivalrous." He smoothed his twisted blond curls, looking up at Clary through thick, golden lashes.

"You were just hoping I was drunken enough that you could get lucky tonight," she guessed, turning her face away from the seductive look.

"That too." Clary sighed, placing her finger to her temples. Her head had just begun to hurt. Checking her phone, she saw that it was one o'clock in the morning. She groaned inwardly, leaning her head back against the seat. Her eyes fluttered shut for a moment, before the car lurched over a pothole, sending her flying forward, only to be caught by the restraint across her chest. She moaned in pain, blinking her eyes as she tried to clear her vision.

Everything was now doubled: the driver, her hand in front of her face, the lights on the side of the street, and the boy sitting next to her. What was his name again? She couldn't remember. All she was aware of was the agonizing pain in her chest, yet she couldn't remember what it had come from. Oh, the seatbelt, she recalled, rubbing the spot just above her heart. Her head turned toward the boy next to her, catching his intense stare. She didn't understand what the look was for. Her thoughts were jumbled, one sentence merging into another, until the words were so smashed together they become one. Her hair was tight, and she didn't like it.

Her artistic fingers swiftly removed sparkling pins and flicked them to the floor. The red hair fell out of its braid as she released the band, the curls instantly springing back to full volume. Clary shook her head, letting the curls fall around her face, grateful for the comforting feeling it gave her. She vaguely heard a rumbling chuckle sounding beside her. She closed her eyes, focusing as much as she could on the amazing sound the laugh was. It was beckoning her, the sound welcoming, thick like honey, warm like sunshine.

Releasing her belt, she swung her legs up behind her, twisting her body across the seat so that her chest was flush with his. The boy's amber eyes were blazing, wide with shock and anticipation. She twisted her fingers into the boy's t-shirt, smiling sweetly at the pleasured and expectant sound that escaped his lips. A thought pushed two words to the forefront of her mind, forcing them out of her mouth. She didn't know what the words meant, but she found herself murmuring, "Screw Simon," right before she pressed her lips to his.

Ahhh! I want to read more...but I'm writing the story...so yeah...haha...so we reach twenty reviews and Jace will say some sweet things to Clary in the morning ;)

And Bambi Magenta Ann: Thanks for your awesome reviews and suggestions, I never intend for Sebastian to be a bad guy...I like him! haha I hope I satisfied your wishes (: